The Men in White

by Anosh Irani

Overview

A finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Drama, The Men in White explores urgent themes surrounding the complexities of the modern immigrant experience, Islamophobia, and the unifying power of sport — the masterful playwright and novelist Anosh Irani at his finest.

Eighteen-year-old Hasan Siddiqui lives in a bustling Muslim quarter of Bombay. He escapes the drudgery of his work at a chicken slaughterhouse by fostering two fervent dreams — to become a star in cricket, a sport at which he happens to excel, and to win the affections of Haseena, a fiercely intelligent young woman two years his junior.

Half a world away in Vancouver, Hasan’s older brother, Abdul, has been working under the table at an Indian restaurant, attempting to set down roots with the hope of one day reuniting with his brother. For Abdul the immigrant dream shows little sign of materializing, but he finds solace in his amateur cricket team. When he and the team’s captain decide to take action to end their losing streak, they talk of recruiting the talented Hasan for the rest of the season. But bringing Hasan from India to Canada will take much more than just a plane ticket, and rising tensions demonstrate that not all members of the team agree with the high cost.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487004743
Publisher:	House of Anansi Press Inc
Publication date:	09/25/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	120
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

ANOSH IRANI has published four critically acclaimed and award-winning novels: The Cripple and His Talismans (2004), a national bestseller; The Song of Kahunsha (2006), which was an international bestseller and shortlisted for Canada Reads and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize; Dahanu Road (2010), which was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize; and The Parcel (2016), which was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His play Bombay Black (2006) won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, and his anthology The Bombay Plays: The Matka King&Bombay Black (2006) and his play Men in White were both shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Buffoon, his latest work of drama, was critically acclaimed and won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards, for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role.He lives in Vancouver.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

PRAISE FOR ANOSH IRANI:



“One of CanLit's most innovative chameleons.” — Quill & Quire

PRAISE FOR ANOSH IRANI AND THE MEN IN WHITE:

NOMINATED FOR THREE JESSIE RICHARDSON THEATRE AWARDS, INCLUDING OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCRIPT

“The play feels so contemporary; its themes — Islamophobia, immigration — are obviously very of the moment, taking on a new urgency of late. . . . I am glad a playwright of Irani’s calibre is dealing with them.” — Globe and Mail

PRAISE FOR ANOSH IRANI AND THE PARCEL:

FINALIST, THE GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARD

FINALIST, THE ROGERS WRITERS’ TRUST FICTION PRIZE
FINALIST, THE ETHEL WILSON FICTION PRIZE

LONGLISTED, THE DSC PRIZE FOR SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE

A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A QUILL & QUIRE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A NATIONAL POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A CBC BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A WALRUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR



“Courageous.” — Madeleine Thien, author of Do Not Say We Have Nothing


“Part of the way this excellent book heals such a sprawling, horrifying reality is with beauty . . . With the hijras, the parcels, the eyes, arms and power of a moody deity, one looks at the strange only to discover unity.” — Globe and Mail


“As engrossing as any thriller, Anosh Irani’s fourth novel offers readers so much more. An aggregate of storytelling accomplishments, The Parcel captivates with its vividly rendered characters and commands the reader’s attention by way of unnerving — and at times profoundly disturbing — portraiture of an abject group at the bottom of an already denigrated community at the heart of India’s booming financial hub, Mumbai . . . Irani leads readers on a memorable walking tour through what is likely alien territory for them . . . The various episodes in the novel are deeply affecting, giving the reader ample reason to agonize over the fact that such a place exists at all. Irani’s compassion for these discarded souls, and the assertion of their essential dignity, renders them simultaneously touching and distressing.” — Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW


“Irani takes readers into the depths of Mumbai’s teeming Kamathipura district, whose economy depends on prostitution bordering on slavery. The story centres on eunuch and former sex worker Madhu — now a beggar and sometime aid to a powerful madam — who is called on to groom a pre-teen Nepalese girl for work in the brothel. Sounds grim, but Irani’s ear is attuned to the raucous humour of the sex workers as they do what they can to maintain their dignity. A harsh dose of reality administered with wit and clarity.” — NOW Magazine


“North Vancouver’s Anosh Irani isn’t selling vacation dreams. He’s depicting a hard, nightmarish existence. As a result, the exoticism of his arresting fourth novel, The Parcel, is nowhere near pleasant and benign. A searing, disturbing, and intimate portrait of Kamathipura, a dilapidated series of laneways in India’s finance capital where an ugly system of prostitution has thrived for over a century, his novel exposes a heartbreaking reality.” — Vancouver Sun


“The Parcel showcases the perceptive acid-streaked sensibility that distinguishes Irani’s novels and plays. But though Irani makes the hell of slums visceral on his pages, he offers here the ways feral compassion can turn to grace.” — National Post


“Immersive and devastating, The Parcel is a searing tale of personal transformation amid toxic patriarchy. Madhu is at once pathetic and honourable, despicable and mighty — and imbued with such complexity, Irani brings dignity to all the transgender sex-workers of India.” — Rajith Savanadasa, author of The Ruins

PRAISE FOR THE BOMBAY PLAYS: THE MATKA KING & BOMBAY BLACK:


“At once poetic and theatrical, The Bombay Plays pulse with grit, humour and despair. Anosh Irani makes an astonishing debut with these two plays. His voice is fierce, funny and wholly original.” — Governor General’s Literary Award Jury Citation

PRAISE FOR THE MATKA KING:



“Anosh Irani has crafted a story as black and seductive as a desert night.”— Globe and Mail

PRAISE FOR BOMBAY BLACK:

“This is one of the most harrowing, unsettling, and mesmerizing plays I’ve ever seen. Ten hours after leaving the theatre, I’m still shaken by what acclaimed playwright Anosh Irani weaves in Bombay Black’s dense 75 minutes.” — Andrea Werner, Georgia Straight

Editorial Reviews

The play feels so contemporary; its themes — Islamophobia, immigration — are obviously very of the moment, taking on a new urgency of late… . I am glad a playwright of Irani’s calibre is dealing with them.

Globe and Mail